Behind the Ledgers: Revealing the Shocking Secret of Qianlong's Finances

Modern auditor Xie Guanchao traveled back in time to the 60th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty and became a frustrated alternate chief of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Before he could adapt to his new identity, he was pushed into the center of the storm by a secret decree from the emperor: to verify the huge deficit in Tongzhou Granary. Holding the blank survey given by the emperor and a private account recording the gray transactions of high-ranking officials, Xie Guanchao used modern audit thinking as an edge to pierce through the layers of fog. From the moldy grains, falsely reported project funds, to the black hole of Yangzhou salt tax, to the shocking deficit covered up by Jiangning Weaving Bureau with "Tien", he step by step penetrated into the darkest hinterland of the empire's finances. However, every time a layer of abscess is uncovered, a deeper taboo is touched upon. Not only did he have to deal with cunning subordinates and greedy imperial businessmen, but he also had to figure out the unfathomable intentions of the emperor on the throne. When a cold iron ruler tried to measure the entire decadent dynasty, he realized that the real accounts were not on paper, but in the abyss where people's hearts and power intertwined.